portland black panthers: empowering albina and remaking a city

7/25/2019 Portland Black Panthers: Empowering Albina and Remaking a City

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LUCASN.N.BURKE&JUDSONL.JEFFRIES


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Lucas N. N. Burke

and

Judson L. Jeffries

V Ehel Willis Whie Books

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Universit o Washingon Press | Seale and London

Empowering Albina

and

Remaking a Cit



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Tis book is published wih he assisance o a gran

rom he V Ehel Willis Whie Endowed Fund,

esablished hrough he generosit o Deehan Wyman,Virginia Wyman, and he Wyman Youh rus.

by he Universit o Washingon Press

Prined and bound in he Unied Saes o America

Design: Dusin Kilgore

ypese in Cassia, designed by Dierich Horicher

All righs reserved. No par o his publicaion may be reproduced or

ransmied in any orm or by any means, elecronic or mechanical,

including phoocopy, recording, or any inormaion sorage or

rerieval sysem, wihou permission in wriing rom he publisher.

Universit o Washingon Press

www.washington.edu/uwpress

Library o Congress Caaloging-in-Publicaion Daa

Names: Burke, Lucas N. N. auhor. | Jeffries, J. L. ( Judson L.),

auhor. ile: Te Porland Black Panhers : empowering Albina and

remaking a cit /

Lucas N. N. Burke and Judson L. Jeffries.

Oher iles: Empowering Albina and remaking a cit

p. cm.

Descripion: s ediion. | Seale : Universit o Washingon Press,

[] | Includes bibliographical reerences and index.

Idenifiers: LCCN | ISBN (hardcover : alk.

paper)

Subjecs: LCSH: Black Panher Part. Porland BranchHisory. |

Arican AmericansOregonPorlandHisoryh cenury. |Arican AmericansOregonPorlandSocial condiionsh

cenury. | Porland (Or.)Race relaionsHisory. | Porland

(Or.)Poliics and governmenHisoryh cenury. | Arican

AmericansPoliical acivitOregonPorland. | Arican

AmericansOregonPorlandBiography.

Classificaion: LCC E. .B | DDC ./dc

LC record available a hp://lccn.loc.gov/

Te paper used in his publicaion is acid-ree and mees he

minimum requiremens o American Naional Sandard or

Inormaion SciencesPermanence o Paper or Prined Library

Maerials, ANSI Z..



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Conens

Maps vi

Inroducion: Venuring ino Unchared Waers

1. Making and Remaking Albina:

Te Long Civil Righs Movemen in Porland

2. Claiming Albina in he Era o Model Ciies and

he Naional Commiee o Comba Fascism

3. Serving Albina and Becoming Panhers under

he Wachul Eye o he Porland Police Bureau

4. Te Emanuel Hospial Expansion, he James Family Saga,

and Porlands Dream o a New Urbanism

5. Winning he War? Regime Change, he

riumph o Communit Poliics, and he

Emergence o Black Leadership in Porland

Conclusion: Legacies and Lie aer he Part

Noes

Seleced Bibliography

Index

Illustrations follow pages and



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Arican American Populaion Ceners in

Porland, Oregon, . Adaped rom

Cornerstones of Community: Buildings

of Portlands African American History

(Porland: Bosco-Milligan Foundaion,

).



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Arican American Populaion Ceners in

Porland, Oregon, . Adaped rom




).



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Arican American Populaion Ceners

in Porland, Oregon, . Adaped rom




).



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Arican American Populaion Ceners

in Porland, Oregon, . Adaped rom




).



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Te Porland Black Panhers



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INTRODUCTION

Venuring ino Unchared Waers

No Black Power movemen organizaion has garnered more schol-

arly ineres han he Black Panher Part (BPP). Te reasonsor his preoccupaion are no hard o pinpoin. Te Panhers

explois are legendary. From descending upon he Caliornia

saehouse o proes a bill inended o render he groups police parols im-

poeno heir Hollywood-like sandoffs wih law enorcemen officers ha

some viewed as suicidal, he Black Panher Part has wrien a chaper in

he annals o American radicalism ha ranks wih he Arican Blood Broh-

erhood and he Indusrial Workers o he World (Wobblies) or gri and

lan.Ask any suden o s hisory o name a hal a dozen Panhers,

and among hose he or she will undoubedly rale off are Eldridge Cleaver,

Huey P. Newon, Bobby Seale, Kahleen Cleaver, Fred Hampon, and Elaine

Brown. Ask ha same person o name some members o oher Black Power

organizaions and observe as he or she sruggles o recie hal ha many.

Sill, while academics and laypersons alike are more amiliar wih he BPP

han wih any oher Black Power movemen organizaion, unil recenly

lile aenion has been given o he various branches and chapers ouside

o Norhern Caliornia. Indeed, i is likely ha ew are aware ha miles

norh o Oakland, Caliornia, a branch o he Black Panher Part was aliveand busling in Porland, Oregon.



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Inroducion

Porland, he count sea o Mulnomah Count, is he larges cit in Or-

egon and lies a he norhern end o he erile Willamee Valley. I is known

or is mild climae and breahaking scenery in addiion o is proximit oboh he Pacific Ocean and he Cascade Range. Te mounains o he Coas

Range rise went miles wes o he cit. Approximaely fiy miles o he eas

sands he picuresque snow-capped Moun Hood. As an inland por cit,

Porland is a major commercial disribuion and shipping cener or he Pa-

cific Norhwes. A large number o is residens are employed in indusries

such as exiles, ood and imber processing, paper producion, chemicals,

and aluminum produc manuacuring. Porland is no readily associaed

wih civil righs or Black Power. Even among many o he Panhers wih

whom we have ineraced over he years, he Porland branch o he BPP

remains a relaively unknown enit. Few are amiliar wih he dedicaed

cadre o Panhers ha includes Ken and Sandra Ford, Linda Tornon,

Percy Hampon, Joyce Radord, and Oscar Johnson, o name a ew.

Since he Porland branch o he BPP olded hirt-five years ago, he

cit has been he subjec o numerous books, journal aricles, masers he-

ses, and disseraions; ye, in many o hem, he Porland branch o he BPP

has barely garnered a menion. In recen decades, he Cit o Roses has

been he subjec o numerous sudies o cit planning and urban hisoryby scholars rom an array o fields, and has given Porland a unique per-

sonalit and image. Due o he commimen o is ciizens and o he cit

and sae governmen o neighborhood engagemen in poliics, saewide

environmenal preservaion, and slow-growh urbanism, boh residens and

academics o his newly hip, posmodern Porlandia have craed a proud

and sel-laudaory image o he cit as a naional model or urban revial-

izaion and susainabilit. However, like many oher uopian promises in

he annals o he American Wes, his myhic urban ecoopia o he Pacific

Norhwes has a more complex hisorical realit. Behind he aade o go-

green bicycling, coffee-sipping, and whie middle-class urbanies is a bi-

erly ragic and ironic hisory o he poliical, social, economic, and spaial

exclusion o Porlands black communit.Moreover, alhough Porland is

requenly held up as a model o regional and urban planning paricularly

or ransporaion, ciizen involvemen and acivism, environmenal pro-

ecion, and land use policies, scholars have largely negleced he hisorical

role o Porlands relaively small ye cenralized black communit in he

cits norheas Albina disric. As a resul, in he popular ahisorical imagi-naion o odays Porlanders, he roos o he cits modern urban reinven-



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Inroducion

ion began in he early s wih he emergence o widespread neighbor-

hood acivism, a new generaion o sae and cit poliical leadership, and

he role he cit played in he naional reeway revols.

Unorunaely, his narraive ignores he longer hisorical developmen

o he cits new urbanism. Specifically, i ignores he nearly cenury-long

sruggle o he black communit in he cits norheas Albina disric o

gain represenaion in Porlands undemocraic and exclusionary poliical

srucure. And i is perhaps he greaes ragedy o his urban reinvenion

ha he very communiies ha deserve credi or he rise o neighborhood

acivism and poliical reorm ulimaely benefied he leas rom his new

poliical order. Wih he excepion o Karen Gibson and her aricle

Bleeding Albina, scholars who have ocused on he hisory o Arican

Americans and he sruggle or racial equalit in Porland have only acily

acknowledged he imporan connecion beween urban planning policies

in Albina and heir effecs on he black communit and on localized civil

righs effors. Tose who have recognized his connecion, however, have

sill ailed o explain he relaionships effec on he developmen and he

rajecory o radical proes movemens during he s and s. Tis

book begins o address ha oversigh hrough a hisory o he local branch

o he Black Panher Part, which began as a branch o he Naional Com-miee o Comba Fascism (an organizing bureau o he BPP).

In raming he hisorical conex o he Black Panher Part in Por-

land, his book works wihin he concepual ramework o he Long Civil

Righs Movemen, also reerred o as he long movemen, popularized by

wenieh-cenury Arican American hisorians, sociologiss, and poliical

scieniss in recen decades. Wihin his longer hisorical sruggle, he Por-

land branch o he BPP played an imporan ye hisorically marginalized

role. Te emergence o he Panhers marked an imporan urning poin

in he cits approach o urban planning and developmen and in he long

reedom sruggle o Albinas black residens. Aer decades o sysemaic

exclusion rom he poliical arena, spaial confinemens and relocaions o

environmenally oxic pars o he cit, and urban renewal projecs ha de-

sroyed black homes and businesses, Arican Americans in norheas Por-

land ough back in a variet o ways. Excluded rom access o radiional

levers o power o deermine he uure o heir own neighborhoods, hese

men and women developed an array o innovaive and creaive approaches

o find a voice wihin cit poliics and urban planning processes. Tese al-ernaive orms o poliical proes and conrol over he producion o social



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Inroducion

space ranged rom pushing or greaer inpu and collaboraion wih urban

planners, on one end o he specrum, o openly opposing cit governmen

and demanding complee conrol o Albina, on he oher. Te PorlandPanhers represened he laer end o ha coninuum. Alhough heir an-

iheical vision o complee communit conrol and socioeconomic upli

was never acualized, he Panhers were essenial o puing pressure on he

cits power brokers wih he expressed purpose o dismanling Porlands

undemocraic, insular power srucure.

In unpacking his urban dialecic beween cit-direced and neighbor-

hood-led planning approaches, his hisory o he Porland branch o he

BPP akes a longer approach o undersanding he organizaions hisori-

cal significance. Beginning wih Progressive Era poliical reorms and he

increasing growh o Porlands black populaion since , he Panhers

drew on a long hisory o civil righs, urban planning, and poliical srug-

gles. Our approach, which urher expands he geographic and chronologi-

cal boundaries o he sruggle or civil righs beyond he Souh and he nar-

row poswar imerame o he s and s, is designed o urge more

scholars o undersand and appreciae boh he localized naure o he black

reedom sruggle and he diverse ye coninuous naure o he movemen.

While here are poenial shorcomings o his approach, including blur-ring he generaional, ideological, and regional differences among aciviss

and organizaions, raming he hisory o he Porland Panhers wihin his

larger conex is essenial i one is o undersand he rise and decline o he

Black Panher Part in his Pacific Norhwes cit. o view he growh o he

Porland Panhers in he lae s and early s in isolaion, or even only

wihin he conex o he poswar Civil Righs Movemen, diminishes he

groups imporance and obscures he underlying reasons or is exisence.

Furhermore, such a narrow perspecive relegaes he emergence o he

Porland branch o he BPP o a naionally simplified expression o s

radicalism insead o he ougrowh o decades o socioeconomic and polii-

cal civil righs sruggles in his cit.

By adoping his broader chronological and geographical approach, his

work also conribues o an expanding field o lieraure on civil righs in he

urban Wes and Pacific Norhwes, and o a growing body o sudies on local

branches and chapers o he Black Panher Part. Alhough in recen dec-

ades scholars have produced numerous case sudies on wesern US ciies,

generally ranging rom Los Angeles and Phoenix in he Souhwes o Sealein he Pacific Norhwes, Porland remains a major Wes Coas urban cener



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Inroducion

ha scholars have no ye ully veed. Tis sudy seeks o fill in ha gap in

he hisoriography o he Long Civil Righs Movemen in wesern ciies by

examining one o he larges Wes Coas ciies wih comparaively he small-es black populaion. On a relaed noe, i is imporan o remember ha

Wes Coas ciies such as Porland, Seale, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and

Oakland have ended o be highly muliehnic and muliracial given heir

hisory in relaion o he Unied Saes wesern expansion and heir geo-

graphic proximit o Mexico, Lain America, and he Pacific Rim. Tis diver-

sit became even more pronounced in he period ollowing he Har-Cellar

Immigraion and Naionalit Ac o , which significanly alered he re-

gions demographics during he emporal ocus o his work. Consequenly,

in sudying his period, recen hisorians and poliical scieniss have in-

creasingly ried o develop more racially and ehnically complex, inclusive,

and dynamic approaches o heir work. Indeed, any sudy ha presens race

relaions solely wihin a black-whie dichoomous ramework is inherenly

incomplee. However, as Suar McElderry noed in his disseraion on

he Civil Righs Movemen in Porland beween and , hroughou

he poswar era and well ino he lae wenieh cenury, Porland remained

unmisakably divideddemographically, rheorically, and, as we sugges,

spaiallyalong a black-whie color line. o ignore such a divide ignores heenire way in which blacks and whies in Porland viewed racial dynamics

a he ime. As a resul, his book uses he black-whie dichoomy o presen

a more ocused perspecive a he expense o a broader and more inclusive

approach. Neverheless, we encourage readers and oher scholars o make

urher comparisons wih oher racial and ehnic groups in and around

Porland wihin he same ime rame o creae a more deailed and holisic

undersanding o he period.

Again, in addiion o is conribuion o he hisory o he Long Civil

Righs Movemen, his sudy also builds on an already rapidly growing and

diverse array o localized case sudies on he Black Panher Part ha have

emerged in he pas fieen years. Scholars o he lae wenieh cenury have

had a endency o view he Black Panher Part hrough a very narrow lens.

Tey have, or he mos par, chosen o ocus predominaely on he organi-

zaions headquarers in Oakland and on sensaional evens involving he

part, such as he elaborae plos on he par o he FBI o saboage he Pan-

hers work, skirmishes wih he police, and some o he Panhers riveing

and someimes inflammaory declaraions abou he orces ha opposedhem and conspired o keep poor people consigned o an inerior place in



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Inroducion

America and abroad. Tis hisorically negligen approach has unwiingly

conribued o a body o work ha has long porrayed he Panhers as gun-

brandishing anarchiss and unapologeic race-mongers. While he partsimage has in ac been orged largely by he hisrionics ha unolded in he

Bay Area, wha many ail o undersand is ha hose goings-on are no rep-

resenaive o he organizaion generally. o reap he benefis o a more com-

plee porrai o he part, one mus inerrogae Panher hisory in naional

locales. Consequenly, i is imperaive ha scholars expand he arduous ask

o excavaing, documening, and publishing he hisory o previously unex-

amined Panher branches.

o dae, only New Haven, Connecicu; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; New Or-

leans, Louisiana; Chicago, Illinois; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have

been he subjecs o book-lengh manuscrips concerning he Black Panher

Part. J. F. Rices Up on Madison, Down on th Street: A History of the Illinois

Black Panther Party, published more han hirt years ago, was he firs such

effor. Rices work was imely; ha same year, $. million was awarded o

plainiffs in a civil sui brough by he survivors o Peoria Panher leader

Mark Clark and Fred Hampon, deput chairman o he Illinois sae chap-

er o he BPP, who were murdered in a predawn raid on December , ,

by law enorcemen officers in Chicago. Nearly went years passed beoreanoher case sudy o a Black Panher branch was published, bu since hen

work in his area seems o have picked up, as hree impressive works on

local BPP branches have appeared in he las seven years. Sill, many schol-

ars have chosen o ocus heir aenion on Panher acivit in he Bay Area.

I oher branches and chapers are discussed along he way, hey are done

so in brie, oenimes in a disjoined manner, wih lile connecion o he

overall hisory o he organizaion.

Sill, over he pas several years, a resh wave o academics, some o

whom were barely school age and ohers who were no ye born during he

Panhers heyday, have uncovered and explored he hisories o some o he

BPPs repored ort or so branches and chapers. While hese sudies have

revealed a previously unappreciaed diverse ye unified coaliion o semiau-

onomous unis, several imporan branches have gone unexamined. Mos

noable among hese underexplored branches is he Porland branch o he

BPP. Tere are a ew excepions, however. In Ma Nelson and Bill Nygrens

Radicals in the Rose City: Portlands Revolutionaries, , an enire

chaper is devoed o he Porland branch o he BPP. Similarly, Jules Boykoffand Marha Gies produced an aricle on media porrayals o he Porland



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Inroducion

Panhers, and Gies also wroe a shor magazine aricle on he Porland Pan-

hers denal and medical clinics. Finally, he Porland Panhers are also he

subjec o a chaper in Polina Olsens book Portland in the s: Stories fromthe Counterculture, alhough, a seven pages, Olsens discussion o he Pan-

hers is significanly less subsanive han ha o Nelson and Nygren. aken

ogeher, and shorcomings nowihsanding, hese works offer a saring

poin or undersanding he Porland Panhers hisory, bu he larger so-

cial and poliical hisory remains unouched and unexamined despie he

significan role he organizaion played in norheas Porland or more han

a decade. Tis book fills ha void. A he same ime, his volume makes no

claim o being he definiive work on he Porland branch o he Black Pan-

her Part. I is however, he firs in-deph examinaion o his undersudied

bu imporan branch o he Black Panher Part.

In he ollowing pages, readers will find ha, in spie o he branchs rela-

ively shor lie span, he Panhers presence and work has had a ar-reach-

ing impac on he cit o Porland generally and on he residens o Albina

in paricular. According o Ron Herndon, a suden leader and graduae

o Reed College in he lae s and longime acivis in he cit o Por-

land, Te Black Panher Part was he only black organizaion a ha ime

ha residens could coun on o speak up agains injusice and acually dosomehing abou wha was going on. Wihin hese pages, special care has

been aken o oreground he voices o ormer Porland Panhers who, unil

now, had been conen o live in anonymit as ar as he larger American

public is concerned. Readers will find ha some voices are eaured more

prominenly han ohers. Te reasons or his include accessibilit, willing-

ness o share inormaion, posiion held wihin he branch, and duies or

which he individual was responsible. Also eaured, wih varying degrees o

prominence, are he sories, voices, and ephemera o suden aciviss, vol-

uneers, and ohers who were convinced ha a societ in which racial, class,

and gender inequalit was no only allowed o flourish bu was propagaed

by Porlands cit ahers was one ha meried conronaion and, in some

insances, dismanling.

Finally, his sudy expands on hose works ha rame he hisory o he

Civil Righs and Black Power Movemens wihin he hisory o urban space

and planning. By linking modernis urban planning and urban space wih

he hisory o civil righs, Black Power, and oher poliical and social srug-

gles, scholars can develop a more meaningul undersanding o he hisoryo place and naion. Building on he works o noed French philosophers



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Inroducion

and social heoriss since he s, specifically Michel Foucaul and Henri

Leebvre, urban civil righs and Black Power scholars now emphasize he

imporance o he social producion o urban spaces and how spaializedpower relaionships emerge beween insiuions and he people hey inend

o govern. Mos noably, in his bookAmerican Babylon: Race and the

Struggle for Postwar Oakland, Rober Sel asuely poins ou, Civil righs,

black power, and . . . [oher] poliical movemens did no call or righs in

absrac erms and ill-defined places. Tey called or very specific hings in

relaion o very specific places. Space is no he whole sory, bu i would be

a srange and incoheren one wihou i. From his perspecive, an inricae

and nuanced hisory o he Porland Black Panher Part requires boh he

larger hisorical conex o Porlands localized black reedom sruggle and

he hisory o he physical and socially produced spaial urban environmen

o Porlands black communit in Albina.

By siuaing his sudy wihin hese broader hisoriographical arenas

he Long Civil Righs and Black Power Movemens, he hisory o he Black

Panher Part, and he hisory o urban planning and meropolian space in

he Wes and Pacific Norhwesa larger sory o poliical exclusion, spaial

conflic, and social and poliical experimenaion wihin he cit o Porland

emerges. Te emergence and decline o he Porland branch o he BlackPanher Part, his book conends, marks an imporan urning poin in he

civil righs sruggle or Albinas black residens and or he cits approach o

urban planning and developmen. Barred rom radiional poliical roues

or deermining he uure o heir own neighborhoods and communiies,

Arican Americans had o engage in a wide range o poliical experimena-

ion o find a voice wihin cit poliics and urban planning. Te Panhers

were insrumenal in puing pressure on he cit governmen o respond

o more moderae voices wihin he Arican American communit, such as

he Model Ciies Ciizen Planning Board, o creae he kind o governmen

envisioned by he counrys ounders.

In elling his sory, we have apped ino a bevy o rich sources, including

a diverse se o more han sevent inerview subjecs. Some o he subjecs

were inerviewed several imes. All old, inerviews were conduced over

several years. Te breadh and scope o our inerviewees is unprecedened

or a book on he BPP, bu necessary i one is o chronicle he hisory o a

branch o he Black Panher Part hrough he wides possible lens. Tese

robus inerviews include longime Porland residens o varying saionsand suden aciviss a area colleges and universiies who were members



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Inroducion

o such groups as he Black Suden Union, Sudens or a Democraic Soci-

et, and he Porland Revoluionary Youh movemen. We also racked down

news reporers rom he Oregonian and rom suden run newspapers, grass-roos aciviss and oher agens o change, ormer members o he Porland

branch o he BPP, voluneer docors and deniss a he Panhers healh

and denal clinics, individuals who paricipaed in he Panhers breakas

program, and reired members o he Porland Police Bureau. Longime resi-

dens helped us undersand he inner workings o Porland and he chal-

lenges he cit and is residens aced as ar back as he Progressive Era and

World War II hrough he Vienam War period. Suden aciviss gave us in-

sigh ino he tpe o campus radicalism ha had ranspired a insiuions

such as he presigious Reed College, Porland Sae College (laer Univer-

sit), and Lewis and Clark College, o name a ew. alking o reporers en-

abled us o gain insigh ino he manner in which he Panhers were covered

and why. By apping ino grassroos aciviss and oher agens o change we

had he benefi o boh a sree-level and mid-level view o undersanding

he issues hey were aemping o address and resolve. Conversaions wih

voluneers, especially voluneer physicians a he Panhers clinics, offered

us a firshand accoun o he clinics aciviies and helped us visualize a tpi-

cal workday. We were orunae in ha we were also able o locae individu-als who enjoyed he ree breakas program provided by he Panhers. Tese

conversaions allowed us o convey, in bold relie, he effec ha his sorely

needed iniiaive had on some amilies in norheas Porland.

Also, he second auhor, via his conacs wih he law enorcemen com-

munit and his inimae knowledge o police work, was able o idenif sev-

eral reired Porland police officers whose careers spanned he years ha he

Panhers were in exisence. Officers ranged rom parolman o vice squad o

deecive o deput chie o police chie, including he counrys firs woman

o serve as chie o a major American police deparmen. Mos o he offi-

cers began heir careers beore he emergence o he Naional Commiee

o Comba Fascism and reired years aer he Panhers apex. Tis kind o

longevit proved immensely helpul, as we were able o explore a range o

opics ha grealy enhanced our abilit o conexualize he Black Panher

Part in he cit o Porland, he aniVienam War movemen, as well as

blacks and he racism hey aced in his Pacific Norhwes cit.

Likewise, we spoke o members o he Porland branch o he BPP who

provided us wih a deailed accoun o one o he mos producive, howeverlile known, branches o he Black Panher Part. Some ormer Panhers



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Inroducion

were easier o locae han ohers, and some were less eager o paricipae

han ohers. Some o he sories shared wih us were shared in confidence

and are hereore no deailed in his volume, bu many are eaured promi-nenly in he ex. While many people are capivaed by he cloak-and-dag-

ger aciviies ha undoubedly played ou around he Panhers, readers will

find none o ha here. o include maerial abou he Panhers clandesine

or underground aciviies, be hey in Porland or elsewhere, would be im-

pruden in his Orwellian era o heighened securit. Equally imporan, he

rappor ha we have developed wih ormer Panhers over many years is

he primary reason we have had unlimied access o he branchs principal

ounder and o oher members o he leadership cadre. Some o our sub-

jecs were consuled on numerous occasions over he course o days, weeks,

monhs, and, in some cases, years. Wihou his level o cooperaion, his

book would be inadequae in a number o ways. We have also inerspersed

relevan quoes hroughou he book or he purposes o helping he reader

visualize boh he characers and he goings-on in Porland.

We undersand ha he use o oral esimonies can presen some chal-

lenges, as an accoun could be skewed in one direcion or anoher, polii-

cally moivaed, or unwiingly prone o nosalgia. Te use o newspaper

aricles can also be problemaic, due o reporers or ediors poliical lean-ings. Alhough journaliss srive or objecivit and imparialit, hey do no

always hi heir mark. Sill, while using his wide array o resources, every

measure was aken o ensure he auhenicit o hisorical accouns and de-

ails and o corroborae he recollecions and remembrances ha were con-

veyed o us. Tese challenges nowihsanding, oral esimonies can provide

rich insighs ino he lives o aciviss, especially hose who, or a variet o

reasons, shied away rom he spolighs glare and are hereore no widely

known, eiher among he general public or o sudens o s hisory and

poliics. As Bruce C. Berg wroe in his book Qualitative Research Methods for

the Social Sciences, documening sories accomplishes a key research goal,

which is o assure ha he real-lie experiences and memories o people

canno be so easily omied, edied, shredded, or swep away. Collecing so-

ries is a consan paleonological endeavor. Te oral hisories conained in

his book help us bring o lie he voices and experiences o hose who made

hisory. Addiionally, incorporaing hese various oral esimonies ino his

scholarly endeavor allowed us as auhors o illuminae our argumens in a

much more relaable way han we ever could using impersonal and saidheory or by simply relying on hisorical documens or he words o amous



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Inroducion

naional leaders rom ouside he cit and sae. In he end, he value o his

oral hisory is ha i allows readers o grapple wih he magniude o impor-

an, and someimes lie-affecing, evens hrough he eyes and voices o realpeople.

In addiion o his diverse collecion o inerviews, we were orunae o

be able o access an invaluable reasure rove o documens and manuscrips

ha helped ground us in he poliics o Porland over several decades. We

drew on Model Ciies and cit urban planning records rom cit and sae ar-

chives, regional newspaper coverage o poliics (boh mainsream and aler-

naive), and urban planning policies. Addiionally, we combed hrough he

imporan ye requenly overlooked Porland Police Bureau records housed

a he Cit o Porland Archives and Records Cener. Given he Porland Po-

lice Bureaus colorul hisory beore, during, and aer World War II, we were

airly confiden ha a close examinaion o said records would bear rui.

For example, in , he Cit Club Commiee on Law Enorcemen in Por-

land and Mulnomah Count ound Porland and is environs o be wide

open wih syndicaed vice, gambling, prosiuion, boolegging and ohers

orms o organized crime flourishing under police proecion, oen on a

pay-off basis. went years laer, he same commiee ound hrough iner-

views wih residens and local aorneys (boh black and whie) ha someofficers policed blacks more harshly han whies. When one aorney was

asked abou his, he submied ha here is sufficien evidence o believe

ha he Porland Police Deparmen indulges in sop and risk pracices in

Albina. Tey seem o eel hey have he righ o sop and risk someone be-

cause his skin is black and he is in he black par o own. Oher commens

gleaned rom he Cit Clubs sudy sugges ha some police officers demon-

sraed an anipahy or blacks ha hey did no seem o manies or whies.

Aer meiculously going hrough he police bureau records on he BPP, we

ound nohing ha undermined ha asserion.

Te surveillance files kep on he Porland branch o he BPP by he Por-

land Police Bureau are available o he public only because officer Winfield

Falk confiscaed he documens, aking hem home raher han shredding

hem as required by a sae law passed in ha made i illegal or po-

lice officers o spy on residens or groups no involved in criminal acivit.

Unwilling o par wih a projec ha had consumed a good porion o his

career, Falk removed he documens and sored hem in his garage or sae-

keeping. In he ensuing years, he coninued o add o he files. Te docu-mens suraced many years aer Falk died in . Te files sa in a dilapi-



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Inroducion

daed barn or more han a decade beore hey were discovered by an op-

porunisic columnis wih he Portland ribune. From unil he early

s, files were kep no only on suden aciviss and milians bu also onhundreds o seemingly ordinary ciizens who were moniored simply or

signing peiions, aending meeings, wriing leers o represenaives, and

joining organizaions. Tese manila olders offer a unique glimpse ino he

secre aciviies o he Porland Police Bureau.

Oher archives ha proved helpul were he Oregon Hisorical Societ,

he Lewis and Clark College Special Collecions and Archives, he Oregon

Healh and Science Universit Hisorical Collecions and Archives, and he

Universit o Oregon Special Collecions and Universit Archive. Such a

broad array o source maerials reflecs an equally broad, and a imes con-

flicing, collecion o perspecives on he Porland Panhers and heir legacy.

Tis vas swah o resources was crucial in helping he auhors cross-reer-

ence sories, evens, aciviies, names, and daes or he purpose o recording

hisory as accuraely as humanly possible. Despie hese saeguards, how-

ever, here are sure o be aux pas due o source inaccuracies and he allibil-

it o human memory in recalling evens ha ranspired more han ort

years ago, no o menion he errors ha someime occur in he course o a

research projec ha sreches over a period o years. For ha, we offer ourmea culpa in advance.

Te Portland Black Panthers: Empowering Albina and Remaking a City

differs rom oher books on he BPP no jus because o he immense rea-

sures ino which we apped, bu also because o he manner in which he

Porland branch is hisoricized and he ways in which is members navi-

gaed he mulidimensional poliical errain in a cit in which he Panhers

purpored primary suppor base was less han percen o he oal popula-

ion. Given ha relaively low percenage, we know o no oher branch o he

Black Panher Part (save he shor-lived branch in Eugene, Oregon, or per-

haps in Des Moines, Iowa) ha operaed in a milieu in which he prospecs

o esablishing and susaining a branch seemed more unlikely. As was he

case wih oher Panher branches, he odds were no in avor o he Panhers

succeeding in pressuring hose in power o oser a governmen ha would

ensure ha is residens received heir air share o he cits opporuniies

and resources, regardless o race or saion. Wih he deck sacked agains

hem rom he ouse, he Porland Panhers neverheless chose o ackle

such issues as povert, police use o exralegal orce, inadequae healh care,disranchisemen, and miseducaion. In doing so, hey engaged in an un-



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Inroducion

compromising poliical ug-o-war wih hose responsible or creaing and

susaining said condiions.

In he Panhers aemps o empower he cits dispossessed, heyundoubedly made misakes. Our inenion, however, is no o praise, deni-

grae, pass judgmen, or criique sraegic moves by members o he Por-

land branch made almos fiy years ago, under circumsances very differ-

en han oday. I is our hope ha curren and uure aciviss will find in

his hisory lessons ha migh inorm hem how bes o pursue change in

heir communiies. We urher hope ha our work inspires ohers o probe

deeply ino he goings-on in oher branches o he BPP, and o coninue

o hink o new, unconvenional, and exciing ways o bes conexualize

he part and o disenangle he complex and nuanced hisory ha is his

black radical organizaion. O he scholarly works published in he las en

years, Jakobi Williamss From the Bullet to the Ballot, Alondra Nelsons Body

and Soul, Omari L. Dysons ransformative Pedagogy and the Black Pan-

ther Party, Andrew Wis Te Black Panthers in the Midwest, Curis Ausins

Up Against the Wall,and Chris Davenpors Media Bias, Perspective, and

State Repressionrepresen he bes in ha radiion. Only by doing such

work can we gain greaer insigh ino quesions such as, Why did he Black

Panher Part sprou up in some ciies and no in ohers? Why did someindividuals choose o pu heir lives in peril and join he BPP raher han

a differen organizaion (wih less associaed risk)? And why do scholars,

wo generaions removed rom he organizaions heyday, seemingly find

he Black Panher Part so capivaing ha hey are willing o devoe years

o heir lives o researching and wriing book-lengh manuscrips on a sub-

jec whose acual lie span lased less han went years?

o answer hose quesions, he chronologic and narraive arc o his

book consiss o five chapers. Chaper , Making and Remaking Albina,

examines he growh o Porlands Arican American communit in he

cits norheas Albina disric and is sruggle or racial equalit rom he

early s o he mid-s. In addiion, he chaper oulines he ways in

which Porlands cit governmen and urban planners excluded Arican

Americans rom poliical paricipaion in he early s, concepually spa-

ialized and consruced Albina as a black urban gheo aer World War II,

and developed urban renewal projecs ha desroyed he cener o he black

communit during he s and s.

Te nex wo chapers deail he origins, developmen, inner workings,and effecs o he Porland Black Panher Part and heir communit sur-



27/28

Inroducion

vival programs. Chaper , Claiming Albina in he Era o Model Ciies and

he Naional Commiee o Comba Fascism, and chaper , Serving Albina

and Becoming Panhers under he Wachul Eye o he Porland Police Bu-reau, reveal he various acics ha he black communit used o figh back

agains he cits vision o he uure o Albina in he lae s. In hese

chapers, we argue ha he Naional Commiee o Comba Fascism, which

evolved ino he Porland Black Panher Part in , emerged as a new

orm o black poliical experimenaion and as one adversaive response

o he Porland Developmen Commissions (PDC) op-down Model Ciies

plan o revialize he Albina disric. On he one hand, he PDC envisioned

a reconsrucion o Albina rooed in capializing on he locaion and com-

mercial poenial o he land, regardless o heir plans effec on he black

communits homes and businesses. On he oher, he Porland Black Pan-

hers vision emphasized giving communiies complee conrol over heir

neighborhoods and promoing communit survival programs aimed a so-

cioeconomic upli raher han physical urban renewal. Tese diamerically

opposed concepions o he uure o Albina necessiaed a middle pah, or

poliical compromise, o ensure peace, ranquilit, and sabilit in norheas

Porland.

Chaper , Te Emanuel Hospial Expansion, he James Family Saga,and Porlands Dream o a New Urbanism, explores he rise o ciizen ac-

ivism and neighborhood conrol o he Model Ciies program, as well as

he poliical repression o Cheryl James ha raumaized a amily and a

communit. While he PDC los conrol o he Model Ciies program o local

ciizen boards and planning commiees, is coninuaion wih he Emanuel

Hospial renovaion and expansion projec sill leveled a large porion o

he black communits homes and businesses. Moreover, combined wih he

concenraed effors o local police and he FBI, he PDCs hospial projec

undercu he Panhers effeciveness, resuling in he branchs closure in he

early s. In he end, however, he PDCs coninued dominance in urban

planning, much like he Panhers branch in Porland, was relaively shor-

lived.

Finally, chaper , Winning he War? explores he spread o ciizen par-

icipaion and neighborhood acivism hroughou Porland in he s, he

elecion o Mayor Neil Goldschmid and his aemps o reorganize he cits

power srucure and urban planning apparaus, and he emergence o Ari-

can American poliical leadership in Porland and in he sae o Oregon. Inhe end, he leadership o Mayor Goldschmid, along wih moderae aciv-



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Inroducion

is voices wihin Albinas black communit, sripped he PDC o is power

and helped bring a small componen o he Porland Panhers aniheical

vision o communit conrol and socioeconomic upli ino mainsreampoliics by he mid-o-lae s. However, more han one hundred years o

social, poliical, economic, and spaial discriminaion and exclusion le an

indelible legacy o povert ha boh he black communit in Albina and he

cit governmen could no easily eradicae in he course o a single decade

o communit-led planning and developmen.

o begin his hisorical narraive wih he decline o he poswar Civil

Righs Movemen and he rise o he Porland Black Panher Part in he

early s would no be sufficien o conexualize he organizaions his-

orical roos or purpose. o ell his sory properly, o appreciae he deeply

rooed naure o he poliical, spaial, and socioeconomic exclusions o A-

rican Americans in Porland, and o undersand exacly wha he Porland

Panhers ough or, we mus begin a leas wo generaions beore he emer-

gence o he local branch. Only by beginning wih he dawn o he Long

Civil Righs Movemen in Porland during he early s can we begin o

undersand he complex acors ha led o he rise and decline o he Por-

land branch o he Black Panher Part.

portland black panthers: empowering albina and remaking a city

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